Scosche MotorMouth II Stereo review: Scosche MotorMouth II Stereo

The Scosche MotorMouth II stereo has an interesting and unique Bluetooth speakerphone form factor. Blending the size of an in-ear hands-free kit, the open-air functionality of a speakerphone, and the interoperability with a car's stereo of an installed solution, the Scosche MotorMouth II is unlike anything we've ever tested. However, the unique nature of the MotorMouth II's design is both its biggest strength and most obvious weakness, as the gracefulness of its implementation lives and dies by the configuration of the host vehicle's dashboard.

7.3

Scosche MotorMouth II Stereo

The Good

The Scosche MotorMouth II is small and easily portable. As it uses the car's speakers for calls, audio quality is usually vastly superior to standard visor speakerphones. DSP echo cancellation makes for clear calls. Bluetooth audio streaming is a nice bonus feature for owners of music phones.

The Bad

Owners of vehicles with glovebox or console audio inputs must use a clunky aux-relocation cable. A proprietary connection on the power cable makes replacement tricky if lost.

The Bottom Line

The Scosche MotorMouth II stereo is a unique product that solves the problem of in-car hands-free calling in a unique way, but its ease of use is highly dependent on your dashboard's configuration.

The MotorMouth II is essentially a small Bluetooth microphone with a 3.5-millimeter male headphone-type connection jutting out of one end at a 45-degree angle. From within a transparent plastic ring between the microphone head and the body of the unit shines an LED indicator that shines blue to indicate an incoming call or connection status, shines red to indicate low battery or charging status, and alternates red and blue to indicating pairing mode. On one side of the unit is a multifunction button that is used to power the device on and off, answer and end calls, and activate the paired phone's voice-command function--if available. The idea is that users will be able to plug the MotorMouth directly into their vehicle's auxiliary input (preferably dashboard-mounted) to take advantage of their vehicle's speakers for hands-free calling. It's a simple idea, but also an effective one that we're surprised that no one had thought of until now.

The MotorMouth pairs with a Bluetooth-enabled phone quite simply with a four-digit PIN--although some users may find it confusing that the device identifies itself by its BTAXS model number, rather than the more easily recognizable MotorMouth moniker. Once paired, the device can be used for hands-free calls, but we were also pleased to find that the MotorMouth II supported A2DP audio streaming--a huge bonus for a wireless device that will spend most of its lifetime occupying a car stereo's audio input. Users interact with the MotorMouth II via a series of taps and long presses of its single button, which is simple enough for single calls, but it can get a bit confusing when attempting to juggle a pair of calls through call-waiting.

The microphone itself utilizes DSP echo cancellation, so you won't have to worry too much about your callers hearing themselves, but road noise can be a bit of an issue depending on how well-insulated your vehicle is and the final placement of the MotorMouth II in the cabin. Callers were aware of the fact that our test calls originated from a moving vehicle, but they almost never complained about not being able to hear us properly. Of course, with four speakers pumping out our end of the call, we heard our side of the conversation loudly and clearly.

Along the spine of the unit is a tiny pinhole connection for the included USB charging cable adapter. We're not a fan of such proprietary connections, as they make finding replacement chargers and cables difficult. The MotorMouth II also ships with a low-profile USB-to-12-volt adapter for charging in-car. Scosche claims a combined 5-hour talk and audio streaming time or standby time of up to 150 hours from a 2-hour charge.

For those who want to continue using a vehicle's aux-in for connecting auxiliary audio sources, Scosche has included an audio splitter. Finally, for owners of vehicles with auxiliary inputs located in the center console or glovebox, the MotorMouth II includes an auxiliary relocation cable that terminates in a sort of microphone stand that can be attached to the dashboard via double-sided tape, a pair of screws (included), or both.

The MotorMouth II is meant to be used in an automotive environment, but we were able to make use of the device with any audio input that accepted a headphone-jack-sized microphone input, including a laptop computer, for receiving calls while working. For in-car applications that feature a dashboard auxiliary input, we think the Scosche MotorMouth II is a neat hands-free calling solution that is easy to install and remove.

However, when it came to using the auxiliary relocation cable to connect to a less conveniently located audio input, we found the MotorMouth to be a bit more cumbersome. We're not fans of semipermanently attaching baubles to our dashboard, and users who don't take the time to properly route or hide the cable could end up with a pretty ugly installation. For these users, we'd recommend simply sticking with a traditional visor-mount speakerphone. Take a look at your car and decide which camp you fall into before purchasing.